[ngcles]

Hi Apple Gecko,

Welcome to the wonderful world of amateur astronomy (and IIS). Amateur astronomy can as simple or as complicated as you like -- you are the one who determines that -- do it your way.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

Is it possible to allign the mirros without a laser collimater and obviously it would be harder. Though how much would a laser collimater cost.

Yep, you can certainly align (collimate) a telescope's mirrors without a laser. The purpose of collimation is to align the optical axis of the big curved mirror down the bottom of the tube with the optical axis of the eyepiece you view through in the focuser. A star image near the centre of the eyepiece field of view should look very, very tiny and round with a little fuzz around them when the 'scope is focused. Diffraction spikes (look them up) are also normal in a newtonian. Planetary (Jupiter, Saurn etc) images should look small but really sharp. If the mirrors are not aligned properly you will get funny-looking star images that don't quite come to focus or have a flare out of one side and planets that look fuzzy and not crisp all of the time.

There are several methods to collimate a newtonian telescope. Some involve a laser and some a device called a "cheshire eyepiece". If you are experienced you can do a good rough job by eye.

Really top qualiy laser collimators cost maybe $200-. You'll get one that will do the job okay for the moment for about $100. A Cheshire will cost about $40-$100 and despite its "low-tech" appraoch I thnk is still the best way to collimate. It is one of those things that you need to learn to use well. Don't panic it isn't rocket surgery. Don't get to carried away by collimation for the moment -- enjoy the 'scope as is untill you start to become familiar with using it and seeing the night sky.

Do a search on "collimation" in the threads here and with a search engine. Learn the basics first. Don't get too anal about it in the meantime -- enjoy the 'scope.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

I have recently viewed a group of stars I think. There was a really bright star with 2 on one side and one on the other side. It looked like an average star through the finderscope but through the telescope it was round and different . Could this be a planet or something else or is there something wrong with my alligning.

This was almost certainly Jupiter. It is low in the eastern sky late in the evening at the moment, very very bright compared to its surroundngs and gets higher as the night goes on.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

Can i see nebulae and such galaxies with my telescope. And i live in Brisbane QLD. Im sorta not one for going out with other people to have a star party.

Yep, certainly. There are several hundred if not thousands of galaxies, star clusters and nebulae that can be seen with your 'scope. One thing you'll notice is that on these sorts of thngs, the vew is much, much better if you take the 'scope somewhere away from the city on a moonless night to somewhere nice and dark. You can also do "deep-sky" observing in the suburbs but the view isn't as good. This is one of the main reason amateurs organise "star-parties" and your local astronomy club will also probably hold observing nights.

Don't be intimidated by star-parties or observing nights. They are just are bunch of people interested in astronomy that meet to enjoy each other's company, share equipment and enjoy the sky together. Some of them are experienced, some have less experience and others are beginners like you.

One thing is for certain they all had to start somewhere and once upon a time they all stood in the shoes you are wearing now. These are a great way to meet other amateur astronomers, learn a lot of stuff and look through your own and each other's 'scopes. You'll learn that most amateur astronomers love to look through other people's 'scopes and have you look through theirs. We are an inherently friendly bunch of people who love to share our hobby (passion, obsession) with others.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

To view a galaxy such as sombrero would i have to allign the mirros correctly, find a dark spot on a dark night with no overcast obviously, and use my star charts to find it.

Don't sweat too much on the collimation thing for the moment. Do some reading here and elsewhere first. As for the rest of the question -- yep, that is how most owners of telescopes similar to your's do it.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

I had my telescope outside earlier and was looking at the stars and could only see stars as they appeared as small dots with a little sparkle, i panned around casually and still only saw small stars excpet for when i found the round planet star thing.

That's how stars should look. The stars are immesely big things. Even a medium-sized star like the Sun is 1.4 million kms diameter and can hold over 1,000,000 Earths inside. However all of the stars in the night sky are so incredibly far away that despite their size, they all look like tiny dots. That dot you see isn't even the surface of the star -- it's a product of the telescope's optical system. Individual stars through the telescope should look similar to the way they do with the naked eye. They obviously become more imteresting when there are lots of them together in a bunch (a star cluster) or with gas and dust around them (a nebula).

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

How do i find something that would blow me away. And is it possible to see a planet from my telescope and on a star charts what are they labbeled or can you not see any planets from Australia.

Planets are not usually labelled on star charts because they very slowly move among the background stars due to the Earth's rotation around the Sun, and the planet's movement around the Sun. It takes Jupiter abut a dozen years and Saturn about 29 years to do a whole lapa round the sky's background stars that for all intents and purposes do not move.

Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are easy to find because they are pretty bright to very bright. Mercury is a little more tricky because it is always near the Sun and the other two can't be seen naked eye. To know the position of the planets and where to find them you need an ephemeris like this one:

http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au/

and you'll also find a planisphere (an all-sky map where you can dial in a view of the sky above you for any night of the year) especially useful for learning the constellations and the night sky.

You might also strongly consider joining an astronomical society (club near you) where there will be lots of people who can answer questions.

There are also several magazines devoted to amateur astronomy and I'd suggest a trip to the paper-shop where you will probably find several. Some are American based (eg "Astronomy"), some European (eg Sky at Night") and at the moment one Australian based -- Australian Sky & Telescope. I'm sure you will find one or more that will meet your needs. They also have articles in them on where you can find the planets at present and other objects to track down with your telescope or binoculars.

Starting with something simple to "blow you away" -- see if you can find the southern cross in the southern sky. There are two bright pointer stars that point at the cross -- Alpha and Beta Centauri. Alpha Centauri is the closest star to our Sun about 4.3 light-years away (1 light-year is approx 9.6 billion km). Take a look at this star and you'll see not one star (like the naked eye view) but two very close stars. Alpha Centauri is a binary star.

Also see if you can fnd the "Jewel Box" star cluster" (NGC 4755) close-by to the 2nd brightest star in the southern cross itself. One of the very best star clusters in the skyand wonderful through an 8" 'scope. That ought to get you started.

I've attached a map you can print-out that shows the cross, the Jewel box (NGC 4755) and the two pointers.

Originally Posted by AppleGecko

Also on my star charts each star in a constilation have letters from the greek alphabet beside them. What do these mean.

This is one of the standard systems of labelling stars and a lot of the brighter stars will have these "Bayer/Ptolmey designations" beside them. Without going into the full history, they are old Greek letters that were assigned to stars within a constellation. Many of them run from brightest (Alpha, Beta, Gamma) to faintest (Omega) within that particular constellation, but for historical reasons don't expect them to be absolutely uniform.

I think thats enough for the moment. Please dont hesitate in giving me more advice.[/QUOTE]

And don't hesitate to ask more questions. Welcome to amateur astronomy. Don't forget to have fun. Don't stress too much over things -- you're a beginner.


Best,

Les D